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Hunter shivered, his toes curling away from the chilly floor in his room. He liked his nice private room. It had been wonderful in the spring, summer and fall but now as it turned to winter, there was an enormous draft from the window. In an attempt to stem the cold air leaking around it, he’d gotten some suction cup hooks and a bar so he could hang curtains. He’d tried to sew two curtains together to make them thicker to stop the draft. Darius made sewing look so easy.
I suck at this! His curtains were now an ill aligned mishmash of loose stitches and safety pins but it helped to cut the frigid air leaking in. He should ask his uncle for some snails but he hated doing that. His room and board were already free to him and he, like all Scouts, had a stipend. He had been saving his snails but there were so many things he wanted to buy.
At least the library was close by. Most of what he wanted were books. He needed to bring some of them back soon before his snail hoard went to late fees. He dressed hurriedly. His toes would warm up in his thick boots and woolly socks. He walked down to the throne room, his boot heels clicking on the stone flooring. He hated the throne room with that strange beating heart hanging over the throne. That thing thumped in his nightmares even though he knew it couldn’t be the same wild magic that took his family. His uncle wouldn’t allow that. Hunter passed Kikimora who sneered at him. She didn’t like the fact that he – a simple scout – was allowed in the throne room just because he was Emperor Belos’s nephew. That relationship definitely isolated him and made others annoyed with him for no reason. How was his birthright his fault?
The room was nearly empty. Had he messed up the time he was supposed to be there? He barely had time to dress let alone go to the mess hall for food. He’d skipped breakfast to be here.
“Ah Hunter,” Belos waved for him to approach. Darius, Raine and Eberwolf stood at the throne with Osran. He didn’t want know why Raine was here instead of Scooter, the coven head.
“I have a job for you.
Hunter beamed. He jumped at any chance to prove his usefulness. His uncle promised soon he’d be the Golden Guard once he proved his worth but he had to keep quiet about that promise. The others would resent it once he had the position. “Yes, Emperor Belos?”
“Help Darius and Raine plan the winter festival.” Belos gestured to the men.
Hunter blinked. That was hardly the mission he was expecting. “Of course, sir.”
Darius opened his mouth as if to protest but snapped it shut. His dancing top knot sagged. “Come along, Hunter. We need to get started,” he said instead.
“Okay.”
Hunter hated to admit it. These two witches influenced him as much as his uncle. He liked Raine and looked up to Darius. The latter was so stylish. Hunter wished he had that sense of style but quickly learned it didn’t come naturally to him. He tried but he was a pale imitation of Darius.
What does it matter? You’re usually in your uniform anyhow. Heeled boots aren’t your style.
He followed them into a small room he wasn’t sure he’d ever been in before. Osran gave them a wave and turned away. “I am not going to be good at this. Use him to help.”
Darius and Raine both turned to him and Hunter shrank back. He’d never really interacted with a coven head much, at least not without Emperor Belos at his side. Somehow Raine was less scary. They weren’t a coven head, not yet anyhow. He’d heard rumors that Scooter was talking retirement and his underlings were vying for Belos’s attention. Raine wasn’t like that but Hunter heard they were good at what they did. He didn’t know much about bard magic but he liked listening to music in the town square.
“Well sit down, little prince.” Darius gestured to the table set up in front of a fireplace. Soft padded chairs ringed it, facing the lit fire.
Swallowing back his nerves, Hunter sat closest to the fire, wanting to hold his hands to it but would that seem strange to the adults? “I don’t know much about winter festivals.”
“We can start with what has worked in the past. You know Emperor Belos likes a big show. He wants people to have a good time,” Raine said. “We’ll probably need more people to help plan especially if Osran isn’t going to help.”
“You’d think an oracle could see what would make for a good festival.” Darius sniffed. “I’ll remind him of that next time.”
With a nod, Raine arched his eyebrows. “Do that and like I said, we can start by making of list of what worked last year.”
“I…I didn’t go to the winter festival, I don’t think.” Hunter pressed against the arm of the chair, extending a hand toward the fire.
“You don’t know?” Darius made a face. His gaze didn’t leave the scar on the side of Hunter’s jaw, reaching for his neck. He’d gotten so lucky that day nothing vital had been cut nor had he lost his eye. Both had been a near thing.
He scrubbed at it, self-consciously. The wound had hurt so much and took a dreadfully long time to heal. The scab had kept cracking open oozing straw-colored fluid and blood every time he had to eat. The ones on his shoulder had fared little better. Hunter had been off his training for a month. He’d broken down and pleaded with his uncle to let the healers fix him but Belos refused to relent. “Emperor Belos said the wild witches who attacked my family took everything from me.” Hunter scowled. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. Belos didn’t want him talking about the family or his lack of memories. “I try not to think about those times.”
Darius exchanged glances with Raine, a look he didn’t quite understand. They seemed both concerned and not actually believing him. Hunter scowled, prompting an amused look from Darius.
“Yes, fine, little prince. Do you think you can contribute to this conversation or are you just going to squirm around? I’d get more sense and less distractions from Eberwolf at this point and Eber can not party plan, believe me.”
Hunter deepened his scowl. “Sorry, I’m chilly.”
Darius leaned over and grabbed Hunter’s hand. “Titan, you’re frozen. Put your hands to the fire. Don’t you have gloves?”
“I… no and I wouldn’t sleep in them anyhow. I came directly from my room.”
“The wind has to howl around that upper floor the emperor has you housed in,” Raine said sympathetically.
Hunter nodded. “It was bad last night.”
“Don’t tell me all you have is that Scout-issued blanket on your bed,” Darius rolled his eyes. “No wonder you’re freezing. At least you’re keeping with the theme of the festival.”
“I think the theme is can we have fun while freezing,” Raine said wryly.
“No, but we can pretend,” Darius said.
“But some things about the snow can be fun,” Hunter protested. He didn’t have a single clear memory of winter but somehow, he knew he liked it. “Like a snowman sculpture contest or something.” He blinked. Where had that come from?
“Now that is a useful idea,” Darius nodded in approval.
Heat flooded Hunter’s cheeks. He turned his face to the fire. “Thanks.” He held out two hands to the flames, unashamed now. “What kind of music will there be?” He liked Raine’s music though he had to sneak around to hear it.
“Oh, I have big plans for that.” Raine clapped their hands together.
Hunter listened to them plan for at least an hour, interjecting a few ideas of his own like a sledding hill because he liked that, didn’t he? Why couldn’t he remember? Finally, Darius declared his brain was fried and he needed a break. He stretched, conferred with Raine who handed him something.
Standing, Darius reached out to Hunter. “Here.”
Perplexed Hunter held out his hand and Darius dropped a bundle of snails into it. “What’s this?”
“Go buy yourself a nice blanket. If you’re going to be on the planning committee, I’m not going to sit here and listen to your teeth chatter.”
Hunter grimaced, an anger-born heat coloring his face this time. Charity? For the emperor’s nephew? Should that be allowed? “My teeth weren’t chattering!”
Darius snorted. “It’s okay to take care of yourself. It looks like you need a lesson in that.” His gaze flicked to Hunter’s scar, making him rub at it again. “Get something nice and fluffy.”
“Listen to Darius. He knows all about self-care.” Raine chuckled before standing and handing Hunter a note pad. “Also use some of those snails to sample several of the food vendors in the market. Keep notes on it, what’s good, what wasn’t. We need to know who to hire for the main event.”
“Yes, and next time don’t skip breakfast. They can probably hear your stomach growling all the way down to the Toes.”
Hunter touched his belly. Had it really been that loud?
“I know growing boys need their food but really.” Darius rolled his eyes.
Raine gave him a gentle shove toward the door. “Come on, let’s go before I start telling him how you and Alador could out eat everyone at Hexside.”
“Patently untrue and don’t compare me to that hack.”
As they walked to the door, Hunter called, “Thank you!”
Shocked at the generosity, he ran upstairs to get his winter coat.
# # #
The market always overwhelmed him. Hunter wasn’t used to this many people. Okay, sure he handled lots of Scouts but they were disciplined. Maybe it’s the chaos that disturbs you, that there are wild witches here but no one does anything about it.
Turning his attention to the snails burning a hole in his pocket, Hunter stopped at a stand with not-dogs wrapped in thin strips of meat and then deep-fried. He ate it in four big bites, licking his lips. That went right to the top of his ‘yes’ list for Raine. He tied it with the puff-pastry stuffed with cream half the size of his head. He gobbled it down. He’d need to pace himself on the food better if he planned to try a wide variety.
Hunter tried something new at his favorite tea shop, carting it off with him as he went on a hunt of the market. He rarely did it so he wasn’t sure where to find gloves or a blanket. He stumbled over a stand with the banner reading Blessed Stones across from a potion shop. What made them blessed? What did that even mean? Hunter poked his nose into the tent, greeted by masses of crystals and stones. Some of them glittered in the light. Entranced, Hunter forgot about his gloves and he examined the rocks.
“Ah, I can tell you’re a young man of discerning tastes,” the proprietor said.
And I can tell you’re full of it. Hunter picked up a stone that changed colors in the light. “What makes them blessed?”
He immediately launched into his sales spiel, none of which Hunter believed. Hunter did, however, like the color-change stone. The black stone with a white fossil absolutely needed to come with him. He bought both stones – blessed or not – and found the glove shop not far away. The fur-lined leather gloves he found for winter were perfect and he bought a thinner pair for less frigid times of the year.
Hunter stood in the square, looking around. “If I were a bedding shop, where would I be?”
He spotted one that said ‘human collectibles’ but all he could see of the owner was her backside as she knelt digging in a large sack while an owl palisman fluttered around her. He shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t need or want human junk, if that even was what it was. His gaze caught on an oracle shop. Now that he could use.
Hunter nibbled on fried tubers smothered in gravy and cheese while he waited for the oracle-coven witch to finish with her current customer. He sat down nervously at her table when it was his turn. “I’ve never done this before.”
“It’s always a good day to start thinking of the future.” A smile cut across her grandmotherly face, putting him at ease.
“How do we do this?”
“You can ask a question if you have something you need to know more about or I can just have a general look at your future.”
“I want to know if I’ll be able to help my uncle,” he said, deciding he didn’t need to give more details than that. What if she realizes his uncle was Belos? What if she found out he was cursed? What if this was a bad idea? Too late now.
“How sweet. Take my hand.”
Hunter did as she asked. She rested her other hand on the crystal ball on the table, her brow furrowing with concentration. The ball lit up with fireworks, swirls of red and black and emanated noises that caused chills to race up and down his spine. Her hand trembled in his and fear etched into her face.
She snatched both hands away, shaking. She pushed the snails back to him. “Sorry, I can’t read you. It’s not…take the refund and go, please. Sorry.”
He scowled but took the money. He stomped through the market, thinking vile things about the oracles. That’s when he saw it: thick, lush, and deep blue, the blanket of his dreams.
# # #
After finishing his new scary novel, Hunter curled up in his bed. He’d bought the awesome blanket and a nice pair of flannel pajamas too. He’d proudly given Raine his list of delicious – and not so yummy – food and immediately had set about fixing up his bed. He nestled the unscarred side of his face against the velvet fluff of the blanket; the scarred side of his face had little feeling left in it and that lack of sensation against the richness of his new best blanket made him sad.
He wrapped up like the stuffed Lorcal leaves he’d had in the market. Those went on the delicious list, tender steamed leaves wrapped around meat and rice. He’d eaten a half dozen. Outside his window, the wind howled, rattling the glass. Hunter tucked up tighter, cozy and warm in his soft new items. He was content.
# # #
“Head Witch Darius, Raine, hold up a moment,” Belos said as they filed out of the coven meetings with all their subordinates. He knew it was possible that one day soon Raine would be a contender for Scooter’s replacement. Maybe I shouldn’t let that happen. Raine is disgustingly talented.
Both witches turned to him. Raine said, “Yes, Emperor.”
“I was told my…nephew was out and about in the marketplace yesterday, spending a lot of snails.” Belos fought to keep his face passive. He didn’t want them to know it bothered him. Hunter shouldn’t be wandering around. He should have thought better than to give him an assignment as he had. The boy was better off isolated.
“Yes, Darius and I gave him some from the committee funds. He was testing food for us.”
“Though, given the appetites and unsophisticated palates of the young, we probably could have found a better choice.” Darius wrinkled his nose. “On the other hand, he wanted to help.”
“He had some good ideas and sending him out to taste test food seemed like something he’d enjoy,” Raine added.
“I’m glad he was useful but I need him on another project. I think he does his best work alone, if you get my meaning,” Belos said. The widening of their eyes said they understood.
“We appreciated his help,” Raine said. “But we understand.”
“Excellent. All right then, I have other pressing duties,” Belos said and they left immediately.
He thinned his lips. Darius again, just like with Bram. What was the attraction? Was it innocent or was Darius plotting something? He wasn’t sure but he’d need to keep an eye on the head of the abomination coven, on all of them especially if they showed signs of influencing Hunter. Yes, he needed to be sure Hunter didn’t spend too much time in sympathetic company. It would only give him ideas and that would never do.